Window screen



P. MESSINA WINDOW SCREEN Nov. 17, 1942.

2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 21, 1939 Fig. 2

ATTORNEY 1NVENTOR FIETRO MESSINA P. MESSINA WINDOW SCREEN Nov. 17, 1942.

Filed Sept. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FIET RO MESS INA ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 17, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDOW SCREEN Pietro Messina, Wollaston, Mass.

Application September 21, 1939, Serial No. 295,865

3 Claims.

This invention relates to window screens, and more particularly to a roll-type window screen.

The primary object of my invention is to generally improve roll-type window screens. The inner end of the screen is connected to a roll, and the outer end of the screen is preferably connected to a band or chain which is also operatively connected to the roll in such a manner that the screen is appropriately rolled or unrolled when the outer end is moved up or down. A specific object of the invention is to compensate for variation in the effective diameter of the roll, as the screen is wound or unwound therefrom.

Other objects of the invention center about the mounting and housing for the parts of the screen, and are to provide housing means for the mechanism which acts also to guide and conceal the side edges of the screen; to so design the parts of the housing that the screen may be readily installed in ordinary windows; so that it may be manufactured inexpensively and sold widely for general use in ordinary homes.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing, and such other objects, as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the screen elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a screen embodying features of my invention with one side of the housing cut away;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken through a window equipped with my improved screen;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view explanatory of the construction of the housing, the parts of the housing being separated to more clearly illustrate, the same;

Fig. 4 is a partially sectioned front elevation of one side of the screen drawn to enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line B6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 1-4 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the improved screen assembly comprises a flexible wire mesh screen I2 which is rolled on a roller I4. The inner end of the screen is connected to roll I4, and the outer end of the screen is connected to a stiffening member I6. The side edges of screen I2 and the ends of member I6 are received in and guided by appropriate housings I8. In Fig. 1, the housing at the right is shown complete, while that at the left is shown open. A horizontal housing member 20 is provided to conceal and protect the roll I4. The screen is mounted in a conventional window frame in a manner which will be clear from inspection of Fig. 2. The housings I8 are secured on opposite sides of the window frame inside the sash. In Fig. 2, the lower sash is indicated at 22, it being partially, but not fully raised, while the upper sash is indicated at 24, it being in raised position. The housings I8 extend high enough to permit full opening of sash 22, the opened lower half of the window frame then being covered by screen I2. The screen is raised or lowered to accommodate itself to the amount of opening of sash 22. For this purpose, the handles 26 on member It may be seized and raised or lowered. The opposite end of screen I2 is appropriately unrolled from or rolled onto the roller I4.

The mechanism for this purpose may be described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings. The ends of roller I4 are fitted with sprocket wheels 30. A chain 32 of inexpensive bent wire type runs about the sprocket wheels 30, and also about idlers 34 at the top of housings I8. These idlers may be in the form of sprockets as shown, or may be simple pulleys. The chain 32 is an endless chain and is preferably provided at a suitable point, most conveniently at a point near the stiffening member I6, with a tension spring 36 which keeps the chain taut and which protects it against breakage in the event of sudden movement or jerking of the screen. Tensioning spring 36 is a refinement which is desirable,

but which, however, is not essential in the invention.

The stiffening member I6 is secured to the chain. Thus when the stiffening member is raised, the rear side of the chain is raised and the roller I4 is rotated counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, thus permitting the screen to unroll. The more important function of the chain arises when the screen is lowered, for at this time when the stiffening member I6 is pushed down, the forward side of the chain is pulled upwardly, thus rotating the roller I4 in clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, and thereby rolling the screen onto the roller.

The operation is complicated slightly by the fact that the effective diameter of the roller changes as the screen is wound on or unwound. therefrom. Thus, when the screen is in nearly lowered position, the roller may attempt to wind.

the screen too rapidly and, on the other hand,.

when the roller is near its top position, the screen.

screen is jerked suddenly, and it accommodates.

or compensates for the variable effective diameter of the roller.

The construction of the housing for the screen may be described with reference to Fig. 3. There are side members 42 which may be made of sheet metal, and which are preferably angle bar or L- shaped in section, thus providing a side wall 44 and an inwardly directed guide flange 46. Each,

housing is completed by a member 48, which may also be bent up of sheet metal, and which comprises a side wall I50, an inwardly directed guide flange 52, and an outwardly directly wall 64. When the parts 42 and 48 are put together a space is formed between walls 44 and 58, in which space the chain 32 operates. At the same time, the flanges 46 and 52 provide spaced guides in which the side edges of the screen, and the ends of stiffening member l6, are received. This will be clear from inspection of Fig. 7.

The upper ends of housings l8 are closed by fittings 56. These may be die-cast and act to properly space apart the members 42 and 48. They also act as bearings for the idlers or top sprockets 34. This will be clear from inspection of Fig. 6, the sprocket 34 being received in a space or channel 58 in casting 56.

The bottom bearings for the ends of roller are provided by indenting the wall 44 inwardly, as is indicated at 60 in Fig. 3. An extra bearing may be welded in position, if a biggerbearing area is desired.

The roller 14 is concealed by a horizontal housing member 20, which consists of a single piece of sheet metal bent to give the same a section such as is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5. The ends of housing member 28 are flanged upwardly at the top wall, as is indicated at 62, this flange being received within the wall 50 of closure member 48. The lower end of closure member 48 is cut away to conform to the section shape of member 20. The parts may thus be nested together, as is indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

The side members 42 are secured to the side walls of the window frame by a number of small wood screws, some of which are indicated at 66 in Figs. 4 and 5. The ends or castings 56 may be secured to the side members, as by means of spotwelding, or may be held in position by wood screws 68, shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The closure members 48 are held in position at their upper ends by small machine screws 10 which are threadedly received in castings 56. They are also held in position near their lower ends by wood screws 12, best shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. Screw I2 passes through the closure member and the side member, and is received in the window frame. A spacer 14 (Fig. 7) preferably in the form of a short length of metal tube is inserted between closure member 48 and side member 42 around screw 12, in order to hold the parts in properly spaced relation and to prevent deformation of the closure member by the screw,

The bottom or horizontal housing member 20 need not be secured in position by screws, it being held against forward and rearward movement by itsi'nterlocked relation with the closure members The stifiening member l6 consists of an inverted U-shaped piece of sheet metal which is secured about the upper edge of the screen and is riveted in place by a series of rivets. When it is secured in place, an L-shaped piece of metal 82 (Fig. 5) is preferably also passed into position, this supporting a strip of rubber 84 which is bent to L-shape, as is best shown in Fig. 5. This strip of rubber acts as a seal between the screen and the window sash to prevent any possibility of flies or insects entering between the screen and the sash.

It will be understood that in manufacture the side housings may be standard, while the screen roller, stiffening member 16, and bottom housing 20 are made in different lengths to accommodate difierent widths of window frame. A customer blnring the screen specifies the window frame size, and is supplied accordingly.

To install the screen, the side members 42 are first screwed against the sides of the window frame with the roller l4 in position, If desired, the bearing 60, at one end, may be slotted in such a way that the roller can be added after the side members have been secured in position. When the roller is being put into place in its bearings, the chain is preliminarily passed around the sprockets at the end of the roller. At any time, the chain is also passed around the upper sprockets or idlers 34, these being put into position with the chain, and the bearing pins then being slid home to hold the idlers in position. The bottom housing 20 is moved horizontally over the window sill until it is in position around the roller. Finally, the closure members 48 are secured in position, they being preliminarily worked downwardly around the ends of housing member 20 and then secured in position, by means of the screws 10 and 12. The screen is then completely installed and is ready for use.

It is believed that the construction, operation and installation of my improved screen, as well as the many advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A roll screen comprising a roller, a flexible screen having its lower end secured to the roller, a stiffening member secured to the upper end, guides adapted to be secured to the window frame for guiding said stiffening member, sprockets at the ends of the roller, an idler at the opposite end of each guide, endless chains extending around said sprockets and idlers, springs in said chains at the portion adjacent the stiffening member for keeping said chains taut, the ends of said stiffening member being secured to said chains in order to appropriately roll or unroll the screen when the stiffening member is moved up or down the connection between said chain and said stiffening member including springs having a relatively large range of movement suflicient to accommodate the discrepancy caused by the change in efiective diameter of the roll as the screen is wound or unwound therefrom.

2. A roll screen for vertically sliding sash windows, said screen comprising a roller, a flexible screen about half the height of the window having its lower end secured to the roller, a stiffening member at the upper end of said screen, and

a housing and guide structure about half the height of the window for receiving the roller and the edges of said screen, said structure comprising upright sheet metal side members which are L-shaped in section and adapted to be secured directly to the sides of the window frame, a horizontal bottom member adapted to rest on the window sill around the roller between said side members, and upright closure members adapted to be secured in parallel relation to the side members, said closure members having outwardly ex tending flanges at their forward edges and inwardly extending flanges at their rear edges, cast metal fittings at the upper ends of said upright members for spacing the members apart and for nicely finishing and closing the space therebetween, an idler in each of said fittings, a part of each fitting being received within the upper ends of the upright members and said inside part forming a bearing for said idler, endless bands extending around the ends of said roller and said idlers, the ends of said stifiening member being secured to said bands for causing appropriate rolling or unrolling of the screen, the upright members forming a hollow space for housing said bands, the inwardly turned flanges acting to conceal and guide the ends of the stiflening member andthe side edges of the screen.

3. A roll screen for vertically sliding sash windows, said screen comprising a roller, a flexible screen about half the height of the window having its lower end secured to the roller, a stifiening member at the upper end of said screen, and

a housing and guide structure about half the height of the window for receiving the roller and the edges of said screen, said structure comprising upright sheet metal side members which are L-shaped in section and adapted to be secured directly to the sides of the window frame, a horizontal bottom member adapted to rest on the window sill around the roller between said side members, the ends of said bottom member being upwardly flanged, and upright closure members adapted to be secured in parallel relation to the side members with their lower ends received around the bottom member and covering the upward flanges thereof, said closure members having outwardly extending flanges at their forward edges and inwardly extending flanges at their rear edges, cast metal fittings at the upper ends of said upright members-for spacing the members apart and for nicely finishing and closing the space therebetween, an idler in each of said fittings, a part of each fitting being received within the upper ends of the upright members and said inside part forming a bearing for said idler, endless bands extending around the ends of said roller and said idlers, the ends of said stiffening member being secured to said bands for causing appropriate rolling or unrolling of the screen, the upright members forming a hollow space for housing said bands, the inwardly turned flanges acting to conceal and guide the ends of the stiffening member and the side edges of the screen,

PIE'IRO MESSINA. 

